[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and all he'd caught was something less than a platoon. He was going to be mad.
He was also going to chew up my sixty men, two mortars, and four light machine
guns. It would take him a little time, though. I'd picked a good spot to wait
for him. Now that the fog had cleared, I saw it was a better place than I'd
guessed from the map. We had reasonably clear fields of fire, and the rocks
were large and sturdy. They'd have to come in and get us. All we had to do was
keep our heads down.
No point in deception anymore. "O'Grady says stay loose and let 'em come to
us."
There was a chorus of shouted responses. Then Brady's trumpet sounded,
beginning with "On
Full Kits" and running through half the calls in the book before he settled
onto the Line Marines'
March. A favorite, I thought. Damned right. Then I heard the whistle of
incoming artillery, and I
dove for the tiny shelter between my rocks as barrage after barrage of heavy
artillery dropped onto our position.
Riflemen swarmed down onto the road behind me. My radiomen and the two
wagoneers were cut down in seconds. At least a company of Association troops
started up the gentle slope toward us.
The Association commander made his first mistake then. His artillery had been
effective enough for making us keep our heads down, but the rocks gave us good
cover and we weren't taking many casualties. When the Association charged us,
their troops held back until the artillery fire lifted. It takes experienced
non-coms and a lot of discipline to get troops to take casualties from their
own artillery. It pays off, but our attackers didn't know or believe it.
They were too far away when the artillery fire lifted. My lads were out of
their hiding places in an instant. They poured fire on the advancing troops -
rifles and the light machine guns, then both mortars. Few of the enemy had
combat armor, and our fire was devastating.
"Good men," Hartz grunted. "They keep coming."
They were, but not for long. Too many of them were cut down. They swept to
within fifty meters, wavered, and dropped back, some dragging their wounded
with them, others running for it. When the attack was broken, we dropped back
into the rocks to wait for the next barrage.
"Score one for the Line Marines," I called.
Brady answered with the final fanfare from the March. "And there's none that
can face us - "
"They won't try that again," Roszak said. He grinned with satisfaction. "Lads
are doing right well, Mr. Slater."
"Well, indeed."
Our area was quiet, but there were sounds of heavy fighting in the south:
artillery, rifle and machine gun fire, mortars and grenades. It sounded
louder, as if it were coming closer to us.
Louis and his commando of ranchers were facing big odds. I wondered if Kathryn
were with him.
"They'll try infiltration next," Roszak predicted.
"What makes you think so?" Hartz asked.
"No discipline. After what happened last time, they'll never get a full attack
going."
"No, they will have one more try in force. Perhaps two," Hartz argued.
"Never. Bet on it? Tomorrow's wine ration."
Page 96
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Done," Hartz said. He was quiet for a moment, then handed me the handset.
"Captain
Falkenberg."
"Thank you. Yes, Captain?"
"O'Grady says the O'Grady drill is over. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"What's your situation?"
"We're in the saddle notch of Hill 239, seven klicks south of Allansport," I
said. "Holding all right for now, but we're surrounded. Most of the hostiles
are between us and Allansport. They let us right through for the ambush.
They've tried one all-out attack and that didn't work. Roszak and
Hartz are arguing over what they'll try next."
"How long can you hold?"
"Depends on what losses they're willing to take to get us out of here."
"You don't have to hold long," Falkenberg said. "A lot has happened. Ardwain
broke through to the Governor and brought him out, but he ran into a strong
force in Allansport. There's more coming over the bridge from the east side of
the river."
"Sounds like they're bringing up everything they have."
"They are, and we're beating all of it. The column that moved north from
Denisburg ran into
Bonneyman's group. They deployed to break through that, and we circled around
to their west and hit them in the flank. They didn't expect us. Your maneuver
fooled them completely. They thought the 501st was with you until it was too
late. They know better now, but we've broken them. Of course, there's a lot
more of them than of us, and we couldn't hold them. They've broken through
between Bonneyman and the river, and you're right in their path."
"How truly good."
"I think you'd do well to get out of their way," Falkenberg said. "I doubt you
can stop them."
"If they link up with the Allansport force, they'll get away across the
bridge. I can't hold them, but if you can get some artillery support here, I
can spot for the guns. We might delay them."
"I was going to suggest that," Falkenberg said, "I've sent Ardwain and the
Governor's escort toward that hill outside Allansport - the Rockpile. It looks
like a dominant position."
"It is, sir. I've seen it. If we held that, we could keep this lot from
getting into Allansport. We might bag the whole lot."
"Worth a try, anyway," Falkenberg said. "Provided you can hold on. It will be
nearly an hour before I can get artillery support to you."
"We'll hold, sir."
"Good luck."
Roszak lost his wine ration. They tried one more assault. Two squads of
Association troops got within twenty meters of our position before we threw
them back. Of my sixty men, I had fewer than thirty effectives when it was
over.
That was their last try, though. Shortly after, they regrouped. The elements
which had been south of us had already skirted around the hills to join the
main body, and now the whole group was moving north. They were headed for
Allansport.
The sounds of fighting to the south were coming closer all the time.
Falkenberg had Deane moving parallel to the Association troops, racing to get
close enough to give us support, but it wouldn't arrive in time.
I sent our wounded up the hill away from the road with orders to dig in and
lie low. The rest of us followed the retreating force. We were now sandwiched
between the group ahead of us and the
Denisburg column behind.
The first elements of Association forces were headed up the Rockpile when
Page 97 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
and all he'd caught was something less than a platoon. He was going to be mad.
He was also going to chew up my sixty men, two mortars, and four light machine
guns. It would take him a little time, though. I'd picked a good spot to wait
for him. Now that the fog had cleared, I saw it was a better place than I'd
guessed from the map. We had reasonably clear fields of fire, and the rocks
were large and sturdy. They'd have to come in and get us. All we had to do was
keep our heads down.
No point in deception anymore. "O'Grady says stay loose and let 'em come to
us."
There was a chorus of shouted responses. Then Brady's trumpet sounded,
beginning with "On
Full Kits" and running through half the calls in the book before he settled
onto the Line Marines'
March. A favorite, I thought. Damned right. Then I heard the whistle of
incoming artillery, and I
dove for the tiny shelter between my rocks as barrage after barrage of heavy
artillery dropped onto our position.
Riflemen swarmed down onto the road behind me. My radiomen and the two
wagoneers were cut down in seconds. At least a company of Association troops
started up the gentle slope toward us.
The Association commander made his first mistake then. His artillery had been
effective enough for making us keep our heads down, but the rocks gave us good
cover and we weren't taking many casualties. When the Association charged us,
their troops held back until the artillery fire lifted. It takes experienced
non-coms and a lot of discipline to get troops to take casualties from their
own artillery. It pays off, but our attackers didn't know or believe it.
They were too far away when the artillery fire lifted. My lads were out of
their hiding places in an instant. They poured fire on the advancing troops -
rifles and the light machine guns, then both mortars. Few of the enemy had
combat armor, and our fire was devastating.
"Good men," Hartz grunted. "They keep coming."
They were, but not for long. Too many of them were cut down. They swept to
within fifty meters, wavered, and dropped back, some dragging their wounded
with them, others running for it. When the attack was broken, we dropped back
into the rocks to wait for the next barrage.
"Score one for the Line Marines," I called.
Brady answered with the final fanfare from the March. "And there's none that
can face us - "
"They won't try that again," Roszak said. He grinned with satisfaction. "Lads
are doing right well, Mr. Slater."
"Well, indeed."
Our area was quiet, but there were sounds of heavy fighting in the south:
artillery, rifle and machine gun fire, mortars and grenades. It sounded
louder, as if it were coming closer to us.
Louis and his commando of ranchers were facing big odds. I wondered if Kathryn
were with him.
"They'll try infiltration next," Roszak predicted.
"What makes you think so?" Hartz asked.
"No discipline. After what happened last time, they'll never get a full attack
going."
"No, they will have one more try in force. Perhaps two," Hartz argued.
"Never. Bet on it? Tomorrow's wine ration."
Page 96
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Done," Hartz said. He was quiet for a moment, then handed me the handset.
"Captain
Falkenberg."
"Thank you. Yes, Captain?"
"O'Grady says the O'Grady drill is over. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"What's your situation?"
"We're in the saddle notch of Hill 239, seven klicks south of Allansport," I
said. "Holding all right for now, but we're surrounded. Most of the hostiles
are between us and Allansport. They let us right through for the ambush.
They've tried one all-out attack and that didn't work. Roszak and
Hartz are arguing over what they'll try next."
"How long can you hold?"
"Depends on what losses they're willing to take to get us out of here."
"You don't have to hold long," Falkenberg said. "A lot has happened. Ardwain
broke through to the Governor and brought him out, but he ran into a strong
force in Allansport. There's more coming over the bridge from the east side of
the river."
"Sounds like they're bringing up everything they have."
"They are, and we're beating all of it. The column that moved north from
Denisburg ran into
Bonneyman's group. They deployed to break through that, and we circled around
to their west and hit them in the flank. They didn't expect us. Your maneuver
fooled them completely. They thought the 501st was with you until it was too
late. They know better now, but we've broken them. Of course, there's a lot
more of them than of us, and we couldn't hold them. They've broken through
between Bonneyman and the river, and you're right in their path."
"How truly good."
"I think you'd do well to get out of their way," Falkenberg said. "I doubt you
can stop them."
"If they link up with the Allansport force, they'll get away across the
bridge. I can't hold them, but if you can get some artillery support here, I
can spot for the guns. We might delay them."
"I was going to suggest that," Falkenberg said, "I've sent Ardwain and the
Governor's escort toward that hill outside Allansport - the Rockpile. It looks
like a dominant position."
"It is, sir. I've seen it. If we held that, we could keep this lot from
getting into Allansport. We might bag the whole lot."
"Worth a try, anyway," Falkenberg said. "Provided you can hold on. It will be
nearly an hour before I can get artillery support to you."
"We'll hold, sir."
"Good luck."
Roszak lost his wine ration. They tried one more assault. Two squads of
Association troops got within twenty meters of our position before we threw
them back. Of my sixty men, I had fewer than thirty effectives when it was
over.
That was their last try, though. Shortly after, they regrouped. The elements
which had been south of us had already skirted around the hills to join the
main body, and now the whole group was moving north. They were headed for
Allansport.
The sounds of fighting to the south were coming closer all the time.
Falkenberg had Deane moving parallel to the Association troops, racing to get
close enough to give us support, but it wouldn't arrive in time.
I sent our wounded up the hill away from the road with orders to dig in and
lie low. The rest of us followed the retreating force. We were now sandwiched
between the group ahead of us and the
Denisburg column behind.
The first elements of Association forces were headed up the Rockpile when
Page 97 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]